Louis Vuitton Cup

File:Emirates Team New Zealand at the Louis Vuitton Cup 2013.jpg

Emirates Team New Zealand at the Louis Vuitton Cup in July 2013

The Louis Vuitton Cup was a yachting competition connected with the America's Cup. Between 1983 and 2013, the Louis Vuitton Cup was used as the challenger selection series for the America's Cup. Four out of the eight winners of the Louis Vuitton Cup subsequently won the America's Cup itself. The challenger selection series is now branded as the America's Cup World Series.

History

In 1970, for the first time in America's Cup history, multiple international challengers competed for the right to challenge the New York Yacht Club, the defender of the America's Cup (the key word being "international": in 1964, for example, two British challengers competed for the right to challenge the NYYC.)

For the 1983 America's Cup match, Louis Vuitton offered a trophy to the winner of the challenger selection series; the idea generally credited to Bruno Trouble, a French yachtsman. The initial Louis Vuitton Cup was contested off Newport, United States, with Australia II prevailing, thereby earning the right to meet the NYYC’s defending yacht Liberty in that year’s America’s Cup.

With the exception of the America's Cup races in 1988 and 2010, the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup has been awarded the right to challenge the current defender for the America's Cup. During the 1992 and 1995 regattas Citizen Watch offered a trophy to the winner of the defender selection series (the Citizen Cup) as the defense’s counterpart to the Louis Vuitton cup.

2004 to 2013

Due to the large number of challengers in recent decades the Louis Vuitton Cup has had to eliminate challengers in two phases. A round-robin points accruing phase, and then a pair of semi-finals involving the top four, followed by a final between the top two. The semi-finals and finals are a best of nine races between two boats.

Since 2004, the Louis Vuitton Cup hosts 13 "Acts" of competition, with the first three acts not awarding points toward rankings. Some challengers do not enter the competition by the start of the acts. Rules for the current races (2005–2007) stipulate that ranking points awarded for each act of competition will increase as they get closer to the final. For acts taking place in 2005, standard points were awarded, with 11 ranking points for a first place finish, and points awarded decreasing based on placing. Acts in 2006 double the points, with 22 ranking points for first place, and the final act 13 which takes place in 2007 will award triple points, giving 33 points to the winner.

History shows that the Louis Vuitton Cup series enhances the chances of the challenger due to the intense racing against different opponents which improves the tactics and crew co-ordination of the winner. Differences in boat speed are becoming less and less, placing an even greater premium on reliability, superior tactics, and crewing. In the weeks leading up to the America's Cup competition, the defender has to mainly practice using in-house racing which can never be as intense as real competition.

In July 2007, Louis Vuitton announced termination of all its sponsorship activities associated with the America's Cup after 25 years of involvement, arguing the organisation of the America's Cup was taken over by business under the rule of Ernesto Bertarelli, leader of Alinghi, winner in 2003.^[1] Louis Vuitton instead sponsored the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and Louis Vuitton Trophy.

After Oracle Racing won the America's Cup for the Golden Gate Yacht Club in the 2010 Deed-of-Gift race against Alinghi, Louis Vuitton again sponsored the challenger series for the 34th America's Cup which was held in 2013 on the San Francisco Bay.^[2]

With the announcement of the protocol governing the 35th Americas Cup it appears that the Louis Vuitton Cup will no longer serve as the challenger selection series for the Americas Cup.